Friday, May 16, 2014

He and She

 From "Amritanubhav" (The Nectar of Mystical Experience) by Jnaneshwar, a 13th century Hindu saint. In Jnaneshwar's writings, Shiva is the formless, unmanifest Absolute, and Shakti is manifest form. But these two are only One. Jnaneshwar states this inexpressible truth through verses, in which He is Shiva, and She is Shakti.

Out of Supreme love they swallow up each other
But separate again for the joy of being two.

They are not completely the same but neither are they different. No one can tell exactly what they are.

How intense is their longing to be with each other.
This is their greatest bliss.
Never, not even in jest,
Do they allow their unity to be disturbed.

They are so averse to separation
That even though they have become this entire world,
Never for a moment do they let a difference come between them. […]

They created a difference to enjoy this world.
When that "difference" had one glimpse of their intimacy
It could not help but merge back into the bliss of their eternal union. […]

They become two for the sake of a divine play,
But in every moment they seek to become one again. […]

How can we distinguish these two from each other?
He appears because of Her,
And She exists because of Him. […]

To capture light we take hold of fire.
To capture the Supreme Shiva we must take hold of Shakti. […]

An object has a reflection:
When looking we see two images, yet there is only one thing.
Likewise, this world is a reflection of the Supreme Lord.
We may see two,
Yet only One exists.

Out of pure emptiness
She gives rise to the entire world.
Everything depends on Her.
Yet She exists
only because of Her Lord. […]

Merged in unity
there was nothing to do.
So Shakti, the bringer of good fortune,
Created this world for the sake of divine play.

She reveals Her Lord's splendor
by melting Herself and becoming everything;
And He glorifies Her
by hiding Himself completely. […]

He is so mysterious and subtle,
That while apparent
He cannot be seen.
It is by Her grace alone that He comes into being. […]

While He is sleeping,
She gives birth to all that exists and all that does not exist.
When She is sleeping, He has no form at all.

Look!
He is hidden, and cannot be found without Her.
For they are mirrors, each revealing the other. […]

She is His very form,
But Her radiance comes from Him.
Blending into one, they enjoy the nectar of their own union.

Shiva and Shakti are one,
Like air and the wind,
Like gold and its luster,

Shiva and Shakti cannot be separated.
They are like musk and its fragrance, like fire and its heat.

In the light of the Sun there is no difference between day and night.
In the Light of the Supreme Truth there is no difference between Shiva and Shakti. […]

Jnanadeva says,
I honor the union of Shiva and Shakti, who devour this world of name and form like a sweet dish.
All that remains is the One."

Embracing each other they merge into One,
As darkness merges with the light
At the breaking of dawn.

When we discover their Unity,
All words and all thoughts dissolve into silence,
Just as when the Universal Deluge comes, the waters of the ocean, and those of the Ganges, will merge into one …

The air and the wind will merge into the endless sky;
The sun and its light will merge into the Universal Fire.

With a true vision of them, the seer and the seen merge into one. Again I honor the two who are one.

They are like an ocean of knowledge. And only those who throw themselves in can drink of their waters.

I appear separate from them just so I can honor them.
But that separation is not real, it is only in name.

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